A strange session tonight. Was feeling suitably revved up and started early but it was a bumpy night and I ended about £15 down. This was mainly due to one satty for a £25 ticket (was already regged so would have just been £25 cash). Was down to 4 handed with 3 paid and I had more than half the chips in play. Fast forward about 7 or 8 all ins and the shorties had won them all JJ<AK 66<33 AQ<A9 etc etc.
I would say on reflection that overall I played a bit patchy tonight and ran just about right so no complaints. I did hit 7 tables at one point (I know some players play much much more than that) and I used to manage that with no issues but I feel more comfortable with 3 or 4 these days (maybe it is the 6 max thing) and don't think the amount of tables helped the cause tonight. Will try and keep it to 4 maximum next session and see if that helps.
It was an enjoyable night in terms of the games were all played in a nice spirit with lashing of 'witty banter' to quote Dave.
Will dust off and try and up the game tomorrow
One point that came up was my open raise sizing. I tend to bet silly numbers such as 100.49, 99.63 etc and make use of the fact you can bet to decimal places on Sky. I am surprised more people do not do it to be honest and would be interested to hear others opinions on this.
My take on it is as follows...
I am not great at mathematics but I am very strong at arithmetic. In terms of the game dynamic the fraction of a chip is unlikely to ever make much difference in real terms, however, if you feel your arithmetical ability is above average would it not be prudent to make the maths marginally more complicated for your opponent to figure out? I mean yes it is a marginal difference but I would say it does make it ever so slightly more difficult for opponents to 'do their sums', figure out what is going on and work out their bet sizing and odds.
Another thing I have noticed and this is not aimed at anyone in particular... The betting silly numbers thing seems to tilt some players. Most wouldn't care a jot but some do seem to get rather irked by it. I don't quite understand why, I mean what makes numbers with decimals more annoying numbers compared to round numbers? If there is a legitimate way to possibly tilt or confuse a very small number of opponents by betting slightly odd amounts to two decimal points then why not do it? Even if it only helps draw mistakes out of 2% or 3% of opponents surely that would make it worthwhile? I am struggling to see any downside to this...
Anyways I will stop rambling for a bit, hope you are all running well and as always... thanks for reading!
Brilliant last night out! Lee, Liz, Ned, Pete were all fallers at the later fences. Hats off to Sky for the free bar. Plenty incriminating and fun photos with Alves , Lee etc to follow. Helicopter ride to follow in a few hours, oops! Posted by markycash
Marky just started reading your diary and finding it very interesting on a poker level and many leagues up from my self, hopefuly I may learn something that will help my game I won't hold my breath though ,But I must highlight the above statement saying that Ned fell at the last fence When I actually went and played poker, I must admit I did Finnish about 3am and can I say for me A profit of $460 which was and is still my biggest win on a cash game, so I was sprinting for the finishing line and could've carried on. Love the diary stick to the facts LOL Ned 17 still jumping
In Response to Re: Markycash diary : Marky just started reading your diary and finding it very interesting on a poker level and many leagues up from my self, hopefuly I may learn something that will help my game I won't hold my breath though ,But I must highlight the above statement saying that Ned fell at the last fence When I actually went and played poker, I must admit I did Finnish about 3am and can I say for me A profit of $460 which was and is still my biggest win on a cash game, so I was sprinting for the finishing line and could've carried on. Love the diary stick to the facts LOL Ned 17 still jumping Posted by ned17
Great stuff Ned on the cash win
Yeah I meant purely regarding the pub crawl Ned. I knew you went to play cash we popped by the poker room to see if you and Lew wanted to hit the strip (cannot remember if we spoke to you, I was bit worse for wear by then lol). Think it might have been about 4am by the time we walked by the poker room so you had probably banked the tidy profit and headed back to the hotel by then.
I do it sometimes especially on PLO8 tables as it breaks up the monotony of pot pot pot hands or even half pot ones and I suppose it might throw a spanner in someones thinking.
I particularly like raising to 111 chips as you get some pretty numbers in the pots.
Mainly just do it for fun when a on a table of regs. Wouldnt do it on a table with unknown players.
Have been playing a few more OH8 DYM's since my last update and feel my game is not 100% where it can be, there are some sloppy mistakes but I do feel it is relatively close. I am happy enough with this as I feel my style is successfully transitioning a little at the moment to a more aggressive but slightly more selective style. Not necessarily more selective hands but being a bit more selective about the spots I am playing. Picking up a few extra spots that I may have been missing, dropping a few I may have persued in the past and altering the aggression levels in some spots. These changes have been required as the play in the games has morphed a bit of late.
Anyways, generally all going good in the last day and a half with 11 cashes in my last 14 and a profit over the last couple of days of around £80. Probably most importantly I have been enjoying the games more and am looking forward to the sessions.
The weekly league games didn't go great. I created 2 spots for 50k stacks in which I was significantly ahead in both spots in the first game, on and near the final table. Winning either pot in which I was well ahead would have gave me the stack to try and take it down. One of the pots I had a flopped set versus top pair top kicker but lost to a runner runner boat. These things happen and I couldn't muster a decent run in any of the other 3 to match it anyway. There is always next week
I really want to go after the Punta Cana stuff and ideally wanted to be pounding the qualifiers from the get go to give myself the best chance. I have a few other things going on which have made finances more restricted and limited my approach at this exact time. This is temporary and I will definitely have a major pop at the Punta Cana stuff after the 1st week in September if not before and am hoping to have a lot of bashes at some of the other bigger tourneys around the same time.
Off the tables
Been enjoying cycling and trying to get into slightly better shape. This has been a bit hit and miss though. I am still smoking more than I should be (really need to address this soon) and am eating too much which has undone a lot of the benefits of the cycling...
To be fair I usually play football for around 45-60 minutes every day with my son and my 2 crazy dogs but I have done some kind of damage to my abdomen and either severely torn some muscles or developed a hernia or something similar. Had the aches for about 2 months + which subsided in Vegas when not playing football but instantly returned with the first kick of a ball when I got back so I will need to knock the football on the head for at least a month.
Choosing my specific psychology modules this week for the 3rd year of my BA studies and kind of looking forward to getting back to the studies. I will keep a firm schedule and make sure I leave plenty of time for the poker.
Also nice to see Celtic win on Wednesday night and progress to the last qualifying round of the champions league. Not sure where it is all headed under Brendan Rogers but there has to be a bit more hope than when Deila was in charge. Reminds me the draw for the 3rd round might have taken place so I will go check that out
Also good to see the traffic in the OH8 DYM's pick up so much recently. I have a few commitments during the days of the coming weeks but I am hoping to put some monster volume in at the DYM tables in the coming months seen as I am enjoying them more lately. Enjoying poker in general so much more lately, had a bit of a lull in interest immediately after Vegas but thoroughly enjoying it again, hence the spamming in the forum etc lol.
Hope you are all running golden and thanks for reading!
It has felt a bit like banging my head off the wall the last couple of weeks. 1 step forward, 1 step back, rinse and repeat. Have a few things to sort out and some commitments away from the tables just now so am going to give the tables a rest for a few weeks. Might pop in and out for the Thursday oh8 league games if possible.
In a few weeks uni starts back up which actually means funding kicks in, other commitments fall away and I am hoping to put a whole lot more volume in. By then a mini-break will hopefully have helped clear the head.
Hope you are all running golden and see you all in a few weeks if not before.
Morning Mark, Just a quick note to say hope all is well, & you'll soon be back amongst us. You did warn us you'd be AWOL for a few weeks, & we've certainly missed your presence. Fair to say, in your absence, the games are a bit easier, too, so no rush to return, right? PS - GO AWAY Posted by Tikay10
Hey Tikay,
Appreciate the message sir
All is well here! Have been enjoying the outdoors and in particular transforming my back garden from something resembling a war zone to a nice tranquil and pleasant place to spend some time. Am even hoping to have a little office built out the back in the near future so I can disappear and play poker sessions in relative peace.
Apart from that I have been sorting a lot of rather dull things out such as university funding and module selection for the 3rd year of my psychology BA.
Hopefully the little break will have a positive effect on my game when I return (probably next week, possibly on Monday if not Tuesday all being well). Am hoping to be playing an awful lot when I return so am making the most of the complete break at the moment.
Hope you are tearing the DYM's up and all is well off the tables too!
Looking forward to coming back very soon and trying to work out what ridiculous ranges you will be attacking my BB's with
Have a great weekend mate & see you on the felt soon.
Have a little bit of time to kill so thought I would do a little update here.
Took a bit of a break from poker as I am trying to do some major work on my house and gardens. Making some great progress but still work to do!
Before/after pic of the back garden which I bored Tikay with earlier ...
Really enjoyed getting it into shape and have left room to build a poker office/study type refuge from the noise of the house at the bottom of the garden. Also built a patio type area out of shot to chill with a beer/wine in the evenings when the weather permits (should be at least twice a year on the west coast of Scotland right?). Hoping to get the officey thingybob done in the coming weeks.
Returned to the tables the other night and started with some OH8 DYM's. Super keen and thought the break may have improved my patience etc. This wasn't an entirely correct assumption. Played 'okay' initially and ran quite bad. Then played below average/average and still ran bad and wound up about £30 down. The games had wound up for the night so I played some PLO cash games and lost another £70. So around £100 down, no biggy and I am chalking this up to a mixture of run bad and play bad.
Tikay's email informing me that I had won a super roller ticket via the forum competition got my Sunday off to a pleasant start so thanks to Tikay and Sky for that! Especially grateful for the email as I may not have noticed this as I was working on the house and garden all day.
Not sure exactly where I am going from here in a poker sense. Will definitely be playing more over the coming months and will definitely play a reasonable chunk of OH8 DYM's. Having said that, I feel I have a problem with my patience in these at the moment and the fact winnings are limited due to the game dynamic and traffic is somewhat restrictive I am unsure exactly how many I will play. Definitely a fair amount although will have to tweak the patience levels. There are some juicy OH8 MTT's around online these days so I may mix in some or a lot of these depending on how they go.
Apart from the poker, uni starts back next week. Passed everything and with pretty high marks last year but was getting quite bored with it by the time 2nd year wound up in June but the break has helped renew my interest. This is handy as it is the 3rd year of a Psychology BA am I am about to start and this year basically ties up at the very least the ordinary degree; 99% sure I will do the 4th 'honours' year after that though, all being well.
Anyways I will go get ready for the super roller which starts in < 1 hour. Will try to not be 'too distracted' by the Malta vs Scotland game in the background I remember always hoping to see Scotland get out of the group stages at a world cup before I kick the bucket; although it has been so long since they have even been at a major tourney it would be nice just to see them back at a major tourney...
Hope you have all been doing well the last few weeks, winning loads of ££'s and enjoying life!
Super roller started good and got up to 36k and briefly snagged the chiplead. Unfortunately that was as good as it got, a couple of hours of being card dead and losing almost all pots I did play ensured I went no further. Such is life
Will hopefully play a little session tonight and some more the rest of the week too.
I do hope thats an artificial lawn marky. Posted by chilling
Unfortunately not, and the dogs will undoubtedly do their level best to wreck it lol. I have put seed down that is supposed to stand up to the rigours of 2 collies trying to destroy it, it hasnt quite kicked in yet though.
Might go for an artificial one before next spring.
In Response to Re: Markycash diary : In the east (of Scotland) you'd probably have a gardener to do it for you. And he'd be from the west. Always found it interesting how different the two cities - Glasgow & Edinburgh - can be, considering they are only around 50 miles apart. One of them is well posh & refined. Posted by Tikay10
Being about as far west as it is possible to go without dipping your toes in the water this does not bode well for me lol.
Guess my future might involve cutting Paul's grass...
In Response to Re: Markycash diary : In the east (of Scotland) you'd probably have a gardener to do it for you. And he'd be from the west. Always found it interesting how different the two cities - Glasgow & Edinburgh - can be, considering they are only around 50 miles apart. One of them is well posh & refined. Posted by Tikay10
Bit like Derby and Nottingham, yet they can't be more than 15/20 miles apart ;-)
Comments
I would say on reflection that overall I played a bit patchy tonight and ran just about right so no complaints. I did hit 7 tables at one point (I know some players play much much more than that) and I used to manage that with no issues but I feel more comfortable with 3 or 4 these days (maybe it is the 6 max thing) and don't think the amount of tables helped the cause tonight. Will try and keep it to 4 maximum next session and see if that helps.
It was an enjoyable night in terms of the games were all played in a nice spirit with lashing of 'witty banter' to quote Dave.
Will dust off and try and up the game tomorrow
One point that came up was my open raise sizing. I tend to bet silly numbers such as 100.49, 99.63 etc and make use of the fact you can bet to decimal places on Sky. I am surprised more people do not do it to be honest and would be interested to hear others opinions on this.
My take on it is as follows...
I am not great at mathematics but I am very strong at arithmetic. In terms of the game dynamic the fraction of a chip is unlikely to ever make much difference in real terms, however, if you feel your arithmetical ability is above average would it not be prudent to make the maths marginally more complicated for your opponent to figure out? I mean yes it is a marginal difference but I would say it does make it ever so slightly more difficult for opponents to 'do their sums', figure out what is going on and work out their bet sizing and odds.
Another thing I have noticed and this is not aimed at anyone in particular... The betting silly numbers thing seems to tilt some players. Most wouldn't care a jot but some do seem to get rather irked by it. I don't quite understand why, I mean what makes numbers with decimals more annoying numbers compared to round numbers? If there is a legitimate way to possibly tilt or confuse a very small number of opponents by betting slightly odd amounts to two decimal points then why not do it? Even if it only helps draw mistakes out of 2% or 3% of opponents surely that would make it worthwhile? I am struggling to see any downside to this...
Anyways I will stop rambling for a bit, hope you are all running well and as always... thanks for reading!
On the tables
Have been playing a few more OH8 DYM's since my last update and feel my game is not 100% where it can be, there are some sloppy mistakes but I do feel it is relatively close. I am happy enough with this as I feel my style is successfully transitioning a little at the moment to a more aggressive but slightly more selective style. Not necessarily more selective hands but being a bit more selective about the spots I am playing. Picking up a few extra spots that I may have been missing, dropping a few I may have persued in the past and altering the aggression levels in some spots. These changes have been required as the play in the games has morphed a bit of late.
Anyways, generally all going good in the last day and a half with 11 cashes in my last 14 and a profit over the last couple of days of around £80. Probably most importantly I have been enjoying the games more and am looking forward to the sessions.
The weekly league games didn't go great. I created 2 spots for 50k stacks in which I was significantly ahead in both spots in the first game, on and near the final table. Winning either pot in which I was well ahead would have gave me the stack to try and take it down. One of the pots I had a flopped set versus top pair top kicker but lost to a runner runner boat. These things happen and I couldn't muster a decent run in any of the other 3 to match it anyway. There is always next week
I really want to go after the Punta Cana stuff and ideally wanted to be pounding the qualifiers from the get go to give myself the best chance. I have a few other things going on which have made finances more restricted and limited my approach at this exact time. This is temporary and I will definitely have a major pop at the Punta Cana stuff after the 1st week in September if not before and am hoping to have a lot of bashes at some of the other bigger tourneys around the same time.
Off the tables
Been enjoying cycling and trying to get into slightly better shape. This has been a bit hit and miss though. I am still smoking more than I should be (really need to address this soon) and am eating too much which has undone a lot of the benefits of the cycling...
To be fair I usually play football for around 45-60 minutes every day with my son and my 2 crazy dogs but I have done some kind of damage to my abdomen and either severely torn some muscles or developed a hernia or something similar. Had the aches for about 2 months + which subsided in Vegas when not playing football but instantly returned with the first kick of a ball when I got back so I will need to knock the football on the head for at least a month.
Choosing my specific psychology modules this week for the 3rd year of my BA studies and kind of looking forward to getting back to the studies. I will keep a firm schedule and make sure I leave plenty of time for the poker.
Also nice to see Celtic win on Wednesday night and progress to the last qualifying round of the champions league. Not sure where it is all headed under Brendan Rogers but there has to be a bit more hope than when Deila was in charge. Reminds me the draw for the 3rd round might have taken place so I will go check that out
Also good to see the traffic in the OH8 DYM's pick up so much recently. I have a few commitments during the days of the coming weeks but I am hoping to put some monster volume in at the DYM tables in the coming months seen as I am enjoying them more lately. Enjoying poker in general so much more lately, had a bit of a lull in interest immediately after Vegas but thoroughly enjoying it again, hence the spamming in the forum etc lol.
Hope you are all running golden and thanks for reading!
It has felt a bit like banging my head off the wall the last couple of weeks. 1 step forward, 1 step back, rinse and repeat. Have a few things to sort out and some commitments away from the tables just now so am going to give the tables a rest for a few weeks. Might pop in and out for the Thursday oh8 league games if possible.
In a few weeks uni starts back up which actually means funding kicks in, other commitments fall away and I am hoping to put a whole lot more volume in. By then a mini-break will hopefully have helped clear the head.
Hope you are all running golden and see you all in a few weeks if not before.
Morning Mark,
Just a quick note to say hope all is well, & you'll soon be back amongst us.
You did warn us you'd be AWOL for a few weeks, & we've certainly missed your presence.
Fair to say, in your absence, the games are a bit easier, too, so no rush to return, right?
PS - GO AWAY
Appreciate the message sir
All is well here! Have been enjoying the outdoors and in particular transforming my back garden from something resembling a war zone to a nice tranquil and pleasant place to spend some time. Am even hoping to have a little office built out the back in the near future so I can disappear and play poker sessions in relative peace.
Apart from that I have been sorting a lot of rather dull things out such as university funding and module selection for the 3rd year of my psychology BA.
Hopefully the little break will have a positive effect on my game when I return (probably next week, possibly on Monday if not Tuesday all being well). Am hoping to be playing an awful lot when I return so am making the most of the complete break at the moment.
Hope you are tearing the DYM's up and all is well off the tables too!
Looking forward to coming back very soon and trying to work out what ridiculous ranges you will be attacking my BB's with
Have a great weekend mate & see you on the felt soon.
Took a bit of a break from poker as I am trying to do some major work on my house and gardens. Making some great progress but still work to do!
Before/after pic of the back garden which I bored Tikay with earlier
Really enjoyed getting it into shape and have left room to build a poker office/study type refuge from the noise of the house at the bottom of the garden. Also built a patio type area out of shot to chill with a beer/wine in the evenings when the weather permits (should be at least twice a year on the west coast of Scotland right?). Hoping to get the officey thingybob done in the coming weeks.
Returned to the tables the other night and started with some OH8 DYM's. Super keen and thought the break may have improved my patience etc. This wasn't an entirely correct assumption. Played 'okay' initially and ran quite bad. Then played below average/average and still ran bad and wound up about £30 down. The games had wound up for the night so I played some PLO cash games and lost another £70. So around £100 down, no biggy and I am chalking this up to a mixture of run bad and play bad.
Tikay's email informing me that I had won a super roller ticket via the forum competition got my Sunday off to a pleasant start so thanks to Tikay and Sky for that! Especially grateful for the email as I may not have noticed this as I was working on the house and garden all day.
Not sure exactly where I am going from here in a poker sense. Will definitely be playing more over the coming months and will definitely play a reasonable chunk of OH8 DYM's. Having said that, I feel I have a problem with my patience in these at the moment and the fact winnings are limited due to the game dynamic and traffic is somewhat restrictive I am unsure exactly how many I will play. Definitely a fair amount although will have to tweak the patience levels. There are some juicy OH8 MTT's around online these days so I may mix in some or a lot of these depending on how they go.
Apart from the poker, uni starts back next week. Passed everything and with pretty high marks last year but was getting quite bored with it by the time 2nd year wound up in June but the break has helped renew my interest. This is handy as it is the 3rd year of a Psychology BA am I am about to start and this year basically ties up at the very least the ordinary degree; 99% sure I will do the 4th 'honours' year after that though, all being well.
Anyways I will go get ready for the super roller which starts in < 1 hour. Will try to not be 'too distracted' by the Malta vs Scotland game in the background
Hope you have all been doing well the last few weeks, winning loads of ££'s and enjoying life!
Thanks for reading and GL @ the tables.
Super roller started good and got up to 36k and briefly snagged the chiplead. Unfortunately that was as good as it got, a couple of hours of being card dead and losing almost all pots I did play ensured I went no further. Such is life
Will hopefully play a little session tonight and some more the rest of the week too.
At least Scotland got the job done versus Malta
Might go for an artificial one before next spring.
Had the front lawn similar for a while and usually works out okay and not much settles on the pebbles.
Failing that I guess I will have to buy a blower lol
Ended up not playing last night as I got too involved with a rather tasty bottle of spiced rum...
I guess the poker adventure continues tonight barring unexpected meetings with bottles of rum.
Always found it interesting how different the two cities - Glasgow & Edinburgh - can be, considering they are only around 50 miles apart.
One of them is well posh & refined.